Wrapping up a 50-year career in higher education, Terry Flannigan will retire at the end of June as senior adviser to the development office at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan. He began his professional career in 1957, primarily teaching and coaching at City Park Collegiate in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, after earning his bachelor's degree from the University of Saskatchewan. In 1969, he headed to Bowling Green State University in Ohio where he earned master's and doctoral degrees and also worked as an administrator and a professor of physical education. In 1972, Flannigan returned to western Canada where he became a pioneer in the advancement field through his work at the University of Alberta and various other institutions. Since then, he has organized and administered major fundraising campaigns totaling close to $300 million (Canadian). He can be reached at t.mjf@shaw.ca.

What drew you to the field of advancement?

I was working in college and student services in the early 1970s at Grant MacEwan Community College in Edmonton, Alberta, when the president asked for my help in raising some scholarships and bursaries [financial aid grants]. I thought there must be an easier way of doing this than going back and asking people to contribute every time we needed to raise money. It seemed that people would be willing to give on a regular basis if there was a mechanism in place. So I thought, why don't we create an endowment? We did.

This was a brand-new concept in Canada. At the time, we had what I call an open-door policy-institutions left their doors open hoping someone would throw in a check.

Please talk about your long association with CASE and career highlights.

I attended my first CASE conference in 1978 in St. Louis, Mo. That's when we started to piece together how to put in place a college foundation. On my return flight, I remember poring over everything we had learned and beginning to get it down on paper. That's how the foundation got started, from the seeds planted at my first CASE conference.

Over the years, I've been to just about every District VIII CASE conference and one time served on the board as an international representative. In 1988, I was awarded the district service award and was probably the first Canadian ever to win that in our district.

I worked at MacEwan College for 18 years, including as a vice president and founding executive director of the college foundation, which raised more than $15 million during my time there. In 1991, I joined Okanagan University College in Kelowna, British Columbia, as the director of development, helping complete a successful $4 million campaign.

In 1995, I was appointed executive director of external affairs for the University of Alberta and then was promoted to associate vice president for external affairs. In this job, I served as the CEO responsible for administering the university's major capital campaign. It had a goal of $145 million and reached $192 million. In 2000, I was appointed vice president, advancement, at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology where the largest fundraising campaign in its history reached $24 million in 2002.

What are your thoughts about some of the major trends and changes in advancement over the years?

Today we're doing a better job building relationships with donors. We're working a lot harder on stewardship. And we're attracting more professional people in the field. In my case, I had no training. I was asked to do something and I was self-taught.

Now when you knock on the door, prospective donors are far more focused. Where individuals and corporations give their gifts now is far more directed than where they were 20 or 30 years ago.

Some of how we do our jobs hasn't changed that much, but what we're asking for has a lot more zeros attached. Years ago, we were working on smaller ticket items. The ticket items are bigger now; the scholarships and bursaries we worked on back then have now become buildings.

Please describe your current job as senior adviser.

I'm doing less and less now in fundraising and more in moving to put people in place. When the newly created University of British Columbia-Okanagan campus opened in 2004, the president asked me to put in place the development office. So at that point, I moved from being executive director to senior adviser.

Not too many people my age have the opportunity to create something like this. We are gearing up for a major campaign. So far, we've hired 10 people, with additional people to be hired as we speak. We face a huge challenge right now in capital needs, buildings, and we'll have to raise $45 million to $50 million in private sector funding in the next three years to do it. In total, we have $250 million in planned construction in the next five years for three building projects-one for engineering and management, a student center, and an addition to our recreational facilities.

What do you consider your major accomplishments?

I like to see what we do, what a positive impact fundraising makes on the institutions I've been involved with. People out here in western Canada think government should be picking up the tab for higher education. Convincing people is a tough sell out here.

Another thing I'm proud of is that in 50 years I've never missed a day of work. I'd like to add that a big factor in my success is my wife, Mary Jane. We've been married 48 years and met more than 50 years ago at Bowling Green University. She is the guiding light in my life.

What's next for you?

I'm 73 on my next birthday. I started working on June 1, 1957, when I was 23. Fifty years later, at the end of June, I'm "gone-zo." Then I'm going to boat, play golf, and ski.

This article is from the June 2007 issue of BriefCASE.
Please share your questions and comments with Pam Russell via e-mail at russell@case.org or by telephone at +1-202-478-5680.